Kevin Davies

Author, The $1,000 Genome; DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution

Guggenheim Fellow 2017

Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal

Founding Editor, Nature Genetics

Medicine is about to change forever. Consumer genetics allows people to learn about their genetic traits and disease susceptibilities written in their DNA for as little as $99, while the cost of a complete genome sequence has reached the magical $1,000 mark. Following the success of his book Cracking the Genome (translated into 15 languages), British science writer Kevin Davies published The $1,000 Genome – a riveting, prescient look at the revolution in DNA sequencing and personalized medicine. His latest effort is DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution, co-authored with Nobel laureate Jim Watson, a sweeping account of the past, present and future of genetics and genomics. Kevin’s presentation combines personal insights, humor, cutting-edge science and a gift for making the impact of 21st-century technology and genetic science accessible to a very broad audience.

In 2017, Kevin received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to research a new book on the new genome editing technology known as CRISPR, which has profound implications for medicine, science and humanity. He is the founding executive editor of The CRISPR Journal, a new research publication from the Mary Ann Liebert publishing company that debuts in 2018.

You will hear from one of our agents in the next 24 hours. If you have any other questions or information, please call us right away at 646.227.4900. Are you also interested in learning more about other speakers? Create a My Speaker List.

Rave Reviews About Kevin Davies

“

"Kevin's talk was very well received...there were about 200+ people who stayed specifically for his presentation so it clearly was a large draw." - Jamie Berendt, The American College of Rheumatology

Kevin Davies is a British author, editor, and publisher who specializes in medical genetics, personalized medicine and the Human Genome Project.

Kevin is the author of three popular science books, most recently The $1,000 Genome(Simon & Schuster, 2010) -– an exploration of the revolution in DNA sequencing and personal genomics. His 2001 book Cracking the Genome was translated into 15 languages. Kevin’s first book, Breakthrough(co-authored with Michael White) examined the race for the BRCA1 breast cancer gene; he served as technical consultant on the 2012 film Decoding Annie Parker. Kevin is also the co-author with Jim Watson of an updated edition of DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution(to be published in May 2017).

Kevin is the founding editor of Nature Genetics, the world’s leading genetics research journal, which debuted in 1992 and launched Nature’s thriving partner journal program. He was also Editor-in-Chief of Cell Press in 2000-01, following the acquisition by Elsevier.

Kevin has 25 years’ experience in science communication as an editor, author, and publisher in both commercial and non-profit organizations. He is currently Vice President of Business Development in the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society, the largest scientific society in the world. He has special responsibility for the ACS’ Open Access programs, and was instrumental in the launch of ACS Central Science, the ACS’ first fully open access journal, in March 2015. He also serves as Publisher of C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News), the ACS’ weekly news and science magazine.

In 2017, Kevin will be a co-author with Nobel laureate Jim Watson on DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution. He is the winner of a prestigious 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship, and is working on a new book on genome editing.

Kevin Davies holds an M.A. in biochemistry from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of London, where he worked on the mapping of the cystic fibrosis gene at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School. He held postdoctoral fellowships at MIT and Harvard Medical School before joining the editorial staff of Nature in 1990. Kevin has also worked as a science editor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and was the launch editor for Bio-IT World, a trade magazine covering big data in the life sciences, in 2002.